Vegan Lima Bean and Chipotle Soup!

Cinco de Mayo is approaching so don your sombreros, purchase a mule and try out this recipe. This is probably one of the most delicious things I've eaten in a while. I got this recipe out of a cookbook by Heidi Swanson. Hers is vegetarian but I switched out ingredients to make it animal product free. This is a fast meal to make with very little ingredients that are easy to find. Serve with chips and salsa or with black beans and some melted soy cheddar cheese, or both!

Serves: 4-6
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20-40 minutes

Ingredients:
10 cups of water
1 pound of lima beans (dry or frozen)
1 yellow onion
1 head of garlic
1 lime
1-2 chipotle peppers*
2-4 teaspoons of adobo sauce *
1 teaspoon of sea-salt
2 tablespoons of earth balance butter (or any dairy free butter just check the label)

*I didn't know this but the brand Goya has chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce which you can find in most grocery stores.

What To Do:
1. If you're using dry lima beans put them in boiling water and have them cook for 30-40 minutes. If you are using frozen lima beans skip to step  two  for now.

2. Separate the cloves of garlic and discard the outer peels and cut the tips off  the cloves. Throw the cloves  in with their peels (it's weird but just do it!) and have the garlic  and lima beans cook together.

3. While that is boiling, dice the onion, if you're using a large mayan sweet onion you can probably get away with using only half. In a skillet, add the butter and let it melt before adding the onions. Add the chipotle peppers and the adobo sauce, depending on how spicy you want it to be you can be as  liberal as you like.

4. If you have frozen lima beans now is about the time to add them to your boiling pot of garlic. Now is also the time to add your salt.

5. Let  the combination in the skillet sizzle and fill your nostrils with a wonderful smoky aroma. You want the onions to caramelize (until the onions look a little translucent) before taking them off the flame.

6. At this point the lima beans should be close to done so take the ingredients from your skillet and add them to the lima beans and garlic. Squeeze half a lime in there for flavor and let this  simmer for about 5 minutes before serving.

7. Use the rest of that lime to garnish drinks or use for tequila shots and enjoy!